Sustainable Food System –Targeting Production Methods, Distribution or Food Basket Content? - Organic Food and Agriculture: New Trends and Developments in the Social Sciences - page 196

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Sustainable Food System -
Targeting Production Methods,
Distribution or Food Basket Content?
Markus Larsson 1 , Artur Granstedt 2 and Olof Thomsson 3
1 Stockholm University and Mälardalen University,
2 Södertörn University,
3 The Biodynamic Research Institute,
Sweden
1. Introduction
Agriculture is the single most important contributor to the eutrophication of the Baltic Sea. It
is responsible for 59% of the anthropogenic nitrogen and 56% of the phosphorous emissions
(HELCOM, 2005). A second important source of nutrient emissions is at the other end of the
food system - emissions from municipal waste-water treatment plants and from private
households. Addressing different aspects of the food system is thus crucial for the Baltic Sea
environment. To tackle eutrophication both nitrogen and phosphorous loads should be
reduced (MVB, 2005). This can be achieved if emissions from the food system are reduced,
e.g. by closing the nutrient cycle from soil to crop and back to agricultural soil (Diaz and
Rosenberg, 2008). Granstedt (2000) finds that the high surplus and emissions of nitrate and
phosphorous in Swedish agriculture is a consequence of specialized agriculture with its
separation of crop and animal production. Similar findings are reported from different parts
of Europe (Brower et al., 1995). About 80% of cropland in Sweden is used for fodder
production but the animal production is concentrated to a limited number of specialized
animal farms. Manure, with its contents of nutrients from the whole agriculture area, is
today concentrated on only 20% of the Swedish arable land (Statistics Sweden, 2011). This
results in high nutrient surplus and load of nitrogen and phosphorus from these areas.
Granstedt (2000) concludes that the emissions can be limited by combining best available
agricultural technology with increased recycling of nutrients within the agricultural system
trough integration of crop and animal production - ecological recycling agriculture (ERA).
This facilitates an efficient use of the plant nutrients in farm yard manure. Other studies of
nutrient balances comparing farming systems and lifecycle assessment report similar
observations (Halberg, 1999; Myrbeck, 1999; Steinshamn et al., 2004; Uusitalo, 2007). The
potential of reduced nutrient emissions trough ERA was confirmed in case studies on local
organic farms around the Baltic Sea (Granstedt et al., 2008; Larsson and Granstedt, 2010).
Carlsson-Kanyama (1999) found that greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by local
and organic food production due to shorter transportation. Similar results are reported in a
compilation of studies (FiBL, 2006) and in studies of local production and processing in
Järna, Sweden (Wallgren, 2008). According to Carlsson-Kanyama et al. (2004) the reductions
are not significant unless local distribution becomes more efficient.